How to Survive the Knockout Game

The news is buzzing recently of the “knockout game”. This is the latest dangerous fad for stupid people to get their kicks at the expense of others. The goal of this “game” is to hit someone so hard you knock them out. Drudge Report has several headlines on his site; the latest is of three knockout cases in Philadelphia. The MO seems to be in most cases to sucker punch someone when they aren’t suspecting it. The victims do not appear to be robbed of anything in most cases, just injured physically although some have died.

I could get into a rant about society and the ills that we have brought upon ourselves but there is not much point. Society is what it is and each of us have to live in the society we have created. Like all other things in life, you have to be proactive in order to defend yourself and this latest devolutionary step is just the next thing you need to watch out for. As preppers we try to foresee events that could disrupt our lives and take steps to mitigate this risk. The risk of being assaulted by a group of thugs is no less dangerous in my opinion than a flood, hurricane or invasion by aliens. If you die, you die regardless of the reason.

The victims all seem to have been taken off guard so I want to talk about some simple steps we can all take that might help you survive the knockout game if you are the unlucky victim some idiot punk chooses.

Don’t get surprised

OK, so this sounds easier than it is but this is one common denominator in these cases. The other is that usually this crime is committed by young black men. I am sure that will change though and you could just as easily be attacked by white kids or women. Next old men will get in on the action probably and then clowns and people in wheelchairs. It doesn’t matter who the person is that is committing the crime, you have to be aware of people surrounding you. In the cases I have seen like this one below, the victim, James Addlespurger is walking along minding his own business when he is approached by people in a group walking towards him. To me this looks like an alley and there are a few other people walking there also, but when the man is attacked he is pretty much alone.

Could you have seen this coming? Maybe this man was preoccupied? Maybe he didn’t fear the group of teens and that’s all good and well but he might have seen this punch coming if he had been paying attention.

I’ll stop right here and admit that I wasn’t there. Anything I say from here on out is going to sound like armchair quarterbacking and that is true. I could just as easily been the victim here but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn lessons from these acts of violence and take steps to prevent them. Just because I wasn’t there, it doesn’t mean that what I am saying is completely invalid.

OK, so back to this guy in the video above. What could he have done differently? From this video, the only thing that stands out, aside from living in another town, is that he could have scrutinized the group closely to watch the guy moving toward him. I know the punch was fast and I don’t even know if he could have evaded it completely, but if he had even a sense that he was about to be punched he could have moved, ducked or braced for impact. As it was he was knocked out by the force of the punch and landed in a heap on the ground. The impact of the ground alone probably did more damage than the punch. Contrary to what you see on MMA and WWE (yes, I know that MMA is fake) the average person isn’t really in shape to take a hard blow to our heads. This is a major concussion and if you are caught completely unaware, the effects are more instantaneous. We aren’t boxers so round after round of right hooks isn’t the norm. Our bodies aren’t ready for that type of impact so when it does, we get knocked out.

Situational awareness I think more than anything can prevent you from getting in situations like this in the first place. Where are you walking? Who is around you? Do you need to worry about the two teenagers walking your way? Maybe you need to turn around and not walk right past the big group of kids in the semi-empty alley. Maybe you are talking on your phone, or walking and texting (my personal favorite). What are you doing that prevents you from focusing on your surroundings, identifying potential threats and acting in a way that puts you in a position to react to the threat.

Anytime you are walking out in the city you need to know what is going on around you. Are you walking near a group of teens who look up to no good? If so, don’t look away trying not to draw their attention. Look them in the eyes. Let them know you see them. Act like you are ticked off and be ready to move, run duck or block any attack. The key is to not let someone sucker punch you. If they just stomp up and start swinging that is something else, but at least you would have foreknowledge of their approach. Blindly walking down the street when we have something like this gaining popularity in a society that more frequently rejects decency and good is a sure way to be a victim.

Be ready to use force

In addition to being aware of eminent threats approaching you, the next component for surviving the knock out game is that you need to be prepared to use force to defend yourself. Even if that force is only covering your head and body to diffuse some of the blows, it could mean the difference in an attack or your death. You don’t have to fight back to win this confrontation only survive. Right now, the trend seems to be that these thugs are just enjoying the thrill of knocking someone out in front of God and everyone. I expect this will change though and this “game” may just be the opening salvos of the all out war that could erupt in our major cities. This to me is similar to looting. When people don’t fear any retribution and they go and commit crimes like this with greater frequency it is alarming. If this continues, people won’t just knock you out. They might just start walking around killing people. Get enough of that happening and you have anarchy.

Some of the youths doing this are trying to use tazers. As if getting tazed from the police wasn’t bad enough, now we have to worry about kids walking up and shooting us with a tazer for fun. In one case a young boy, Marvell Weaver tried to taze someone, it backfired on him in a big way. WND describes the scene

This version of the game had a twist: Instead of punching the victim in the face, the predator used a taser – a KL-800 Type Stun Gun capable of generating 1.8 million volts.

When Marvell Weaver jammed the taser into the ribs of the still unidentified man and pulled the trigger, it jammed. The target pulled out his .40 caliber Smith and Wesson and shot Weaver as he tried to escape to the getaway van where two of his accomplices waited.

Having a concealed weapon is something I recommend every law abiding citizen do where it is legal to do so. If someone is coming up to attack you, and you are aware enough to react quickly you could save yourself from getting killed.

Do not be afraid

Lastly, this behavior shouldn’t make you scared. It should piss you off! How sad it is that our country, our society has sunk this low. Rather than dwell on that like I said at the beginning you have to be ready to deal with threats like this. I for one believe that we aren’t going to have a more peaceful society for a long time. Events like this will become more common, the effects will be more serious until there is out an out violence being committed daily everywhere you go. Right now, this seems confined to big cities, but left unchecked this behavior will spread. Just because you live in a small town in Iowa, that doesn’t mean you can’t be attacked. That is all this is.

You have to be aware of your surroundings and mentally and physically prepared to act. I didn’t say karate chop someone because we all have different levels of ability, strength and fitness, but don’t give this trash an easy way to pop you in the head. Don’t be that guy on the phone texting his girlfriend when a gang of thugs is walking down the street toward you. Keep your phone in your pocket, hands free and scan your surroundings. What you see may save your life.

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This guy was faced with six black cowards. How exactly could he defend himself except with deadly force? Call a spade a spade. If you see a group of blacks approaching you or slithering up from behind, you’d best be armed with a good hand gun. They are thugs, scum and cowards and sociopaths of the lowest order. Devolution at its worse.

If you’re going to join the discussion, please be advised that we speak proper English, not “Ebonics”.

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5 years ago

Guest

bassesofdeath

The ebonic plague

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5 years ago

Guest

Cranky Steven

At last, a happy ending!

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5 years ago

Guest

Illini Warrior

Let’s keep avoiding the obvious by calling it a “game” …. they are unprovoked racial attacks …. of course white teenagers or even women could become participants in the “game” …. and victims could also become black …. but then we wouldn’t be calling it a “game” anymore …
Would we?

I agree with you Illini Warrior, but that is what these thugs are calling it. Its so funny to put people in the hospital isn’t it?

Pat

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5 years ago

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Patrick McCoy

This is not just a passing fad. It is a spreading case of racial (black youths on predominately white elderly) violence that no one in the main stream media or law enforcement seems to care about. As a matter of fact there has been hundreds of cases if not thousands documented since 2010 and has spiked since the Trevon Martin case. The picture in the heading you used was taken in New Orleans (French Quarter) during the Essence Festival (Mostly black) recently. I have lived in the area including during hurricane Katrina and let me assure you this is NOT… Read more »

I think you are right Patrick and this is only going to get worse. Sadly, you can’t let your guard down anywhere now, much less in the major city centers like New Orleans.

Pat

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5 years ago

Guest

Patrick McCoy

Oh and just as a side note to my earlier comment, these cases are happening all over the country but seem to be confined to the parts of the country that have enacted Gun Control laws.
This kind of “game” does not happen around here as far as I know and I have a good feeling it’s because a LOT of us are packing and AWARE of such things so these gangster punks won’t risk their worthless lives by trying ! Just saying…

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5 years ago

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Pleasantville

In what state do you live?

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5 years ago

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Patrick McCoy

Louisiana why? What state do you live in?

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5 years ago

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Vinny Voodoo

I spar at an MMA gym. The fighters there are pros, I am not. To survive a punch I tuck my chin down to my chest to protect my chin, bring my hands up to protect my chin and then bring my shoulders up and forward to protect my chin. Don’t try and swat at punches, keep your hands balled up in fists and on either side of your chin and move your head out of the way of the punches if you can. Move away on 45 degree angles, DO NOT BACK STRAIT AWAY! This isn’t fight instruction, it’s… Read more »

I plan to take Krav Maga classes as soon as some things work out and there is a local class. I think everyone should know basic self defense skills.

Pat

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5 years ago

Guest

GoodGuy

What I was thinking of when I read this. Was to pretend to be talking on the phone, but keeping aware of your surroundings. BUT, the way you hold your phone in a blocking sort of way, giving no clear shot of your head. Elbow in front, fist clenched at your cheek. You have a clear view of any movement to block anything, then run. First thing is these guys are cowards, they do it in a large group and attack individuals. Also, they seem to target weaker and easier individuals. Old people, out of shape people, women, young jewish… Read more »

I think your phone idea is a pretty good one if you identify a threat as long as it isn’t blocking your view. You are right that having your arm up there could help you block blows. Thanks for the comments!

Pat

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5 years ago

Guest

bdwilkin

In hindsight, we should have picked our own cotton.

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5 years ago

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Dolph Ramey

Not enough white people, we killed the natives in the new world and buying Africoons from other Africoons was pretty cheap in comparison. At least we have the best NBA and NFL players the athlete factories can produce.

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5 years ago

Guest

Dolph Ramey

Drop the bomb; kill them all.

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5 years ago

Guest

Stephen Peele

nice job on this, you know someone is going to claim it is racist and you did an excellent job of putting things in context…

Putting judgement aside, This is not just about right or wrong for everyone out there. It’s about preparing yourself for what life tosses in your way and living around it intelligently. http://muzzlefront.com/knock-out/

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5 years ago

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John Dough

This knockout game is media propaganda, don’t be fooled. A few isolated events that people were not calling that occurred and the next thing you know the media was showing images from years prior from other countries on their knockout game articles. Think about it, the media got your attention and their objective is ratings and they have shit for ethics. If anyone black assaults anyone white they will throw the trending keyword ‘knockout game’ in the title for more attention (money).

It’s seriously a handful of events scattered around the country. Look into who coined the term knockout game.

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5 years ago

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Larry

When you are the one being targeted it doesn’t matter how often these thugs have attacked others. As far as you are concerned, it’s at least one time too many. As far as who calls it a “game”, I’m pretty sure some of the participants, when asked why they did what they did, SAID it was a game. They just did it for fun, no reason.

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5 years ago

Guest

John Dough

Oh your ‘pretty sure’ well that’s comforting, feels conclusive and makes me understand your ‘struggle’ with the media propaganda building a problem out of thin air people want to respond to. No one is ‘targeting’ you at all get over yourself you are not important enough to be someones focus. When kids reach a age where they can take on a adult male they sometimes do so out of pure enjoyment of the fact that they can. It’s stupid idiotic and kids of all race do it especially when they have the security of a group of friends around.

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5 years ago

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Kwil1390

Well let’s get our facts straight here: #1 The predominant offenders are not of a specific race but instead the demographic is teenagers in urban communities. #2 Calling the use of an ignorant vernacular “ebonics” is highly offensive and racist. This ignorance is not race specific. I spent 4 years in the military, and I saw ignorant people of every damn race. I come from a small town in the middle of bumfuct, WV where racism is pretty common; however, I assure you that some of the best and most decent people I called my brothers and sisters in uniform… Read more »

[…] checking email, you might not see the group of kids walking towards you ready to try their hand at the knock-out game. When you check your sports scores at the red light you might miss that vehicle swerving over into […]

[…] checking email, you might not see the group of kids walking towards you ready to try their hand at the knock-out game. When you check your sports scores at the red light you might miss that vehicle swerving over into […]

[…] they see fit. Targets that fall into their hands will be random and the mob will not self-regulate. All behavior will be deemed acceptable because the crowd chooses to go along with each other. Cars are overturned, windows smashed and […]

[…] they see fit. Targets that fall into their hands will be random and the mob will not self-regulate. All behavior will be deemed acceptable because the crowd chooses to go along with each other. Cars are overturned, windows smashed and […]

[…] they see fit. Targets that fall into their hands will be random and the mob will not self-regulate. All behavior will be deemed acceptable because the crowd chooses to go along with each other. Cars are overturned, windows smashed and […]

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1 year ago

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